darren_stranger | Ikon, Dandelion Wine, Immaculata (Reply)

Might as well put down a few thoughts on the gig the other night.

One thing i realised about Ikon was that, despite being proudly rooted in '90s generic goth, they don't actually have much of that Sisters of Mercy rip-off sound that spoils so much of that style. Aside from the obvious Joy Division nods, the guitar sounds are more reminiscent of bands like Vendemmian or Love Like Blood, who are the bands of that style who've probably dated best for me (especially when they forget the Sisters of Mercy ever existed). The other thing i realised was that i still love that sound. Just as some people can't resist a catchy dance beat or a meaty metal riff, i can't sit still for a barrage of those goth chord progressions (if only there'd been a seething moshpit to enjoy it properly). It probably would have sounded better with a live drummer, but those chords still did it for me. What it did lack though (which a drummer would also have helped) was in the visual department. There really wasn't much going on to look at, so maybe some ideas are needed there. Still, even nice red/blue lighting like the other bands had would have made the difference mood-wise, instead of the bare white light which made it look like they were doing a soundcheck.

From what i'd heard of Dandelion Wine, i expected a slow, mellow set of swirly, ethereal widdlings. Instead, it was quite a big and powerful sound. The first couple of songs had a very strong Doors/Velvet Underground feel, and the music wandered around a lot of different styles through the set. Normally i don't like female singers who can actually sing, as it usually comes out too sickly sweet, but while the vocalist (whose name i don't know) could sing sweetly when she wanted, she also knew when to make her voice nicely grating and annoying (in a good way). i was quite impressed with the set in general, especially the frantic mandolin (?) solo near the end of the set (i would have half expected him to smash it if it wasn't a probably very expensive instrument). The set was cut quite short, probably due to a late start because hardly enyone had turned up at 9 (bloody goths).

To be honest, i hadn't been especially keen to stick around for Immaculata, not having been impressed with the 'new' incarnation the last couple of times i saw them, but i'm very glad we did. i'd forgotten how much i love Garth's voice, and they've started to flesh out the synth-only sound a bit better (and learned to turn Sophie's mike down so she doesn't drown everyone else out). The melodies are as good as ever, and i particularly liked one track (which the Fiend compilation tells me is called 'Valentine's Day') which had some nice doomy vocals from the keyboardist (Ben?) and a quite 'beefed up' sound which added a nice contrast to the lighter campier stuff. The campy vibe was enjoyable too, and the band looked like they were having a great time. And this time i managed to appreciate what's good about them, instead of dwelling on what i want them to sound like, though i do have to say that i still wish they'd leave 'Blood On My Hands' alone - i'd probably rather never hear it live again than have one of my favourite songs given the George Lucas Special Edition treatment. But that's just me.

Anyway, the whole night was quite enjoyable, and if you're in one of those towns that this gig is coming to, go see it.